The Barn in Sanford, Florida—just north of Orlando—is a mid-sized country music venue that recently has hosted concerts by country artists such as Craig Campbell, Emerson Drive, Drew Baldridge, and many others. As the name implies, The Barn mostly caters to central Florida’s country music clientele. But on Sunday night (8-14), the venue decided to open its doors to the fans of Brad Markovita, also known as “Bezz Believe”—a local rapper. As the venue was letting out at closing time, trouble ensued.

At 2:00 a.m. Monday (8-15) morning, a total of 23 shots were fired into the crowded parking lot, with numerous bullets striking the venue, and one individual—a black man in his 20’s—being struck multiple times by the gunfire. He is currently in critical condition at a local hospital.

Though initial reports claimed that the victim was one of the performers Sunday evening, it is now believed the victim might have been part of one of the performer’s entourages. The victim’s name has yet to be released, but Bezz Believe is Caucasian, while the victim has been identified as African American. Other guests performed with Bezz Believe during the concert as well.

At the moment police have no suspect, partly due to attendees of the concert refusing to cooperate with police.

“This was a crowded parking lot. The club was just letting out for the night. We know there are many people in that parking lot that could have seen something that will help with this investigation,” Sanford police spokeswoman Bianca Gillett told the Orlando Sentinel.

Bezz Believe addressed the shooting on Monday via social network.

“I had a packed out show at the Barn,” he says. “I heard some dudes got violent down the street from the venue at the end of the night. The news just looking for a story so they the titteling [sic] the story like it was me for views. Yes everybody I am okay!! Nobody shot at me or remotely tried anything negative towards me … The Barn got metal detectors at the front their door. Their security is 100% on point. If the media attempts to slander the Venue at all I will be on they ass! The Barn management and their whole staff is on point. They can’t stop what happens damn near off the property of the venue.”

Though Bezz Believe has characterized the shooting as occurring away from the venue, according to the venue’s co-owner Scott Magowan, some of the shots fired hit the back of the building and the air conditioner for The Barn. “We were trying to get people out of here and suddenly we started hearing things. Somebody heard firecrackers going off. It wasn’t firecrackers at all as it turned out,” Magowan told the Orlando Sentinel. Magowan says police retrieved a total of 23 bullet casings from the scene.

40 Comments

Wallace
August 16, 2016 @
8:26 am

I’m usually with you on these things, but how does it matter to the story that it’s a country music venue that booked a rap concert? Are you implying that it was a country music fan that shot up the venue? It sounds to me like a random shooting at or nearby a rap concert.

” Are you implying that it was a country music fan that shot up the venue?”

I’m not implying anything. I am reporting the details of the story. Country venue booked rap concert. 23 shots fired. Man in hospital in critical condition. The fact that some are trying to assign some sort of agenda to my reporting is the reason they don’t understand it. If this was a more well-known country music venue, say Gruene Hall or The Continental Club in Austin, or The 5 Spot or Ryman in Nashville, nobody would be questioning this report.

“It sounds to me like a random shooting at or nearby a rap concert.”

Yep. ????

Does that mean it is somehow not in the public interest? You have a man fighting for his life in a hospital and no suspect.

I understand you just see it as a basic news item but given that this site is known for insightful commentary you can’t fault your fans for trying to read a deeper meaning into every story. Take it as a compliment.

These sort of shootings are far too common within the rap/hip-hop subculture. A number of clubs in our area have been shuttered due to violence, shootings, and murders repeatedly occurring at them. The sad part is that the warning signs are usually loud and clear, with repeat police visits and news reports, but nothing usually gets done until someone is killed. Let’s hope the owners of The Barn will evaluate the risks of hosting these sort of events, even if the incidents may only happen outside of the venue.

See by stating the type of music, you incite this sort of response, despite no evidence supporting the fact that it had anything to do with type of music or show goers. And let’s be real rap/hip-hop subculture is code for a bunch of African – Americans.

So I’m not supposed to mention that it was a country music venue that happened to randomly book a rap concert? That seems like a crucial detail to the story, if not the elephant in the room. In fact I could make the case that it would be irresponsible to not include the details in this story.

I can understand how some could take the headline as “sensationalized.” Trust me, I understand. And I think it’s a fair point. But it’s the story and the details that are sensationalized. To fire off 23 freaking rounds in a crowded parking lot, which means he probably had to reload, is pretty incredible. And the fact that we have a victim in a hospital, and a shooter still at large makes it a pretty serious issue. If this was a country concert at a country venue, nobody would be taking issue with it, they would be sharing the information in hopes of tracking down the perpetrator. But since rap was involved, all of a sudden we’re questioning the motives of the reporting as opposed to worrying about the details.

23 rounds is a helluva lot. Unless the perp had a large-capacity handgun magazine like those 33-rounders for 9mm Glocks (completely nonconcealable, I may add) he probably reloaded. Not really sure what to make of that fact.

Well he is a she, and nope didn’t miss it, Eminem is actually one of my favorite artists, and own all of his early albums. I however am also aware of the use of code words, when discussing things like race. And a whole wealth of information is available on the subject if you want to research it. Also gets into framing, social policy etc.

The Barn is primarily a country music venue. The shooting occurred at a rap concert. These are facts. The problem is folks are trying to assign either an agenda or an opinion to a story that simply is explaining what happened. I was in no way attempting to assert an opinion. Saving Country Music posts these kinds of stories all the time, especially when you have suspects on the loose, or in this case, the lack of a suspect. I did a similar thing two weeks ago:

That didn’t have anything to do with country music, but these are venues and places country music fans, and music fans in general frequent and know, and everybody wants to be safe, and feel secure.

What sucks is that I’m not going to be able to post these articles anymore because people freak themselves out, trying to figure out what I’m implying as opposed to just presenting facts no different than any other news story.

Sure, it’s a news story: shooting happens near/at noted country (or music venue) after concert lets out. Type of concert is a superfluous fact, yes it’s a fact, but it’s not (at this time) relevant to the actual story. And adding it, detracts from the actual story, because it’s the part that people focus on.

It’s not the nature of the story here, the Austin story was good. The questioning of the story comes in when you highlight the fact that it was a country club hosting a rap concert like it matters to the story when no other news outlet is making the connection. I get that you used the headline to make the story something you could post on your site but you could just highlight it as a shooting at a country music venue in Orlando without bringing attention to the kind of music that was playing there and no one would have an issue with it. I’d re-write it to something like “23 shots fired, Man Critically Injured at Popular Orlando Country Music Venue The Barn”. Then in the story you can bring about the fact that it is unusual for the venue to host a rap concert and maybe even make a statement that this is not a regular occurrence for the venue.

I totally understand how some people are taking the headline as being sensationalized, and I think it’s a fair point. But if I withhold certain facts, it could also be taken as misleading. That is why I haven’t changed it.

For example:

“23 Shots Fired, Man Critically Injured at a Country Venue” implies that it was a country concert, which is untrue, and could be considered sensationalized itself.

“23 Shots Fired, Man Critically Injured at Rap Concert” would have people screaming that it’s not relevant to country music, so why am I reporting it?

It’s also worth pointing out that we have no idea of a motive for the shooting at the moment. 23 rounds fired is incredible. This could have been a bloodbath, and the latest mass shooting. It’s a good thing this guy was apparently a shit shot, or the headline may have been completely different.

And by the way, a mass shooting is coming to a country concert, or a country venue. It’s just a matter of time. That’s why when I see a story like this, I feel obligated to report on it. We have a guy whose willing to shoot off 23 round in the crowded parking lot of a country venue on the loose and a guy fighting for his life in a hospital. In my opinion, that’s what we should be worrying about. Not my dumbass headline.

A spree killing, likely an act of terror sure is coming to some venue here. Attacks of that nature have demonstrated success in Europe; it’s only a matter of time as you said. There’s a reason that I avoid crowded venues and public spaces, and do not generally go into any location where I can’t be armed.

And along come the PC police calling the race card….sooooo predictable and on cue. No room for honest dialogue anymore…nope …we must stifle all free speech if it doesn’t agree with our extreme PC views.

Maybe Trig, you shouldn’t run this type of story at all as it only riles people up. How about them steel guitars…who likes steel guitar? I like steel guitar. There is that better? Let’s just love each other and only talk about what we like and can agree on.

steel guitars huh? I don’t know, it just sounds racist to me. Better check with the PC patrol before we have a discussion about steel guitars. I’m sure something will come up that will be offensive to the uber-sensitive, pussified masses.

Great point . You are so right. Hmmm..steel….they used steel to make shackles and leg irons…and we all know who wore shackles don’t we? So really then, steel is a code word for slave owner. Therefore steel guitar is a racist term. So , maybe we should change it to something less objectionable like…I don’t know, how about seated guitar or horizontal guitar? , wait…nope that’s racist too because someone seated would be an inferior, kinda like in a slave ship where they were seated below deck. Aaaahhhh…I give up…it’s just hopeless !!!!